I’m going to give myself one month to do each/any of these reviews at which point, I’ll either stay using it or move to another. I want to make MarketingAutomation.com a place where people can see many reviews, but I also run a regular business so I face the same challenges that any company would when making a change like this. I also welcome 30 day reviews from other small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Disclaimer: Some of these providers donate a license to me for my review. I will always however, be completely honest about my experiences. All descriptions are “as of writing”. I will do my best to be accurate but do not accept any liability for omissions or errors. Please do your own due diligence before buying any software solution.
My thinking about 30 day CRM / Marketing Automation Reviews is that…
1.) if a small business can’t make a successful start to transition into a marketing automation system within 30 days then that system really isn’t a fit for a small business and…
2.) the learning process and adoption rate of a solution is very important since there is no gain if productivity is being held back by a long learning curve or integration process.
I’m going to break down reviews into the following:
- Licensing Costs
- Licensing Model
- Learning Curve
- Set up
- Integration with other programs and systems
- Ease of Adoption
- Ease of Use
- Appropriate for Sole Proprietors / Small Salesperson Operations (1 – 10 Employees)
- Appropriate for Medium Sized Businesses (Up to 100 Employees)
- Appropriate for Larger Sized Businesses (From 100 to 500 Employees with Multiple Locations)
- Appropriate for the Enterprise Sized Business (Over 500 Employees with Multiple Locations)
I think it is important to break down the “Appropriate for” parameter into specific sizes because of the disparity in size descriptions that exist. The SBA describes “Small Business” generally as companies with over 500 employees or 7 million in average annual receipts. Many authors & private companies use their own parameters. I think that this leaves too much ambiguity for true small businesses. I mean, what is an “Enterprise”? I would call a company with over 500 employees or 7 million dollars in average annual receipts, an enterprise. Regardless, for the purpose of these reviews, more specific company size descriptions are in order.
Source: http://www.sba.gov/content/summary-size-standards-industry
I would love to hear about your experiences in implementing any CRM / Marketing Automation solution. Please write to me.
